[Comprehensive] Controversy Over Son Jung-woo's Release, Including Digital Prison... Blue House Petition Surpasses 200,000

'Operation of World's Largest Child Sexual Exploitation Site' Son Jung-woo's US Extradition Denied
"Judge Should Be Disqualified from Supreme Court Nomination" Petition to 'Digital Prison'
Women's Groups and Citizens Condemn "Judiciary Has Thrown Away Its Own Trust"
Experts Say "If There Was Faith in Judicial System, This Would Not Have Happened"

Son Jung-woo, the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site "Welcome to Video," was released on the afternoon of the 6th following the court's decision to deny extradition to the United States, leaving the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Public outrage is mounting as the extradition of Son Jung-woo (24), the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site, to the United States has been denied. Along with Son Jung-woo, recent digital sex crimes based on SNS platforms such as Telegram and websites have continued, spreading public calls for "social punishment." Notably, Son Jung-woo's photo was also posted on the Digital Prison, a site where personal information of presumed sex offenders is uploaded.

Women's groups unanimously stated that this movement stems from "distrust toward the judiciary." They pointed out that prosecutors who apply charges and request sentences, as well as the courts that hand down sentences, have so far made decisions centered on the perpetrators.

On the 6th, the Criminal Division 20 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kang Young-soo, Jung Moon-kyung, and Lee Jae-chan) denied the extradition request for Son Jung-woo, the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site "Welcome to Video" (W2V). Accordingly, Son Jung-woo was released from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do, that afternoon.

Son Jung-woo was indicted on charges of operating W2V on the dark web, where IP address tracking is difficult, from July 2015 to March 2018?about 2 years and 8 months?posting child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials and earning approximately 400 million won worth of Bitcoin.

It is particularly known that the illegal sexual exploitation materials distributed by Son included videos involving a newborn just six months old.

The court ruled that since investigations related to child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials are still ongoing domestically, it is possible to prevent recurrence of the crime by conducting investigations within Korea.

Public anger has spread over this court decision. Especially after it was revealed that Presiding Judge Kang Young-soo was nominated as a Supreme Court justice candidate, a petition calling for the disqualification of Judge Kang's candidacy was posted that day. The petition gathered over 200,000 signatures by around 10 p.m. that evening, about 11 hours after being posted, meeting the requirements for an official response from the Blue House.

Also on the same day, Son Jung-woo's personal information was disclosed through the Digital Prison. While his name and age were known through foreign media reports, detailed personal information such as his face had not been publicly revealed.

The Digital Prison is a website that publicly discloses personal information of sex offenders, including those involved in Telegram sexual exploitation cases, as well as violent criminals such as child abusers and murderers. The site reveals offenders' names, ages, birthplaces, and alma maters.

The Korean Women's Associations United released a statement titled "The Judiciary Has Thrown Away Its Own Trust" on this day. Photo by Korean Women's Associations United website capture.

Citizens agree that "the fundamental reason for the rising voices is the loss of trust in the judiciary." They argue that if there had been confidence that sex offenders would be properly punished domestically, there would not have been such focus on personal information disclosure. The hashtag movement '#Room_n_grew_up_on_verdicts' circulating on SNS also reflects this sentiment.

Office worker A (27) said, "With such slap-on-the-wrist responses from the judiciary, how can recidivism be prevented?" adding, "This kind of ruling is not a one-time occurrence but has been continuous, which is why sex crimes are not eradicated. The judiciary, which is supposed to protect victims and punish perpetrators to realize justice, keeps sending messages like 'It's okay to commit sex crimes' and 'Sex crimes are nothing,' so how can sex crimes be eradicated?" expressing frustration.

University student B (24) also said, "After seeing this ruling, I thought 'There is no hope in Korea,'" and strongly criticized, "I thought there was a tolerant 'rape culture' regarding sexual violence, but to operate the world's largest child and adolescent sexual exploitation site on the dark web and end up with only a 1 year and 6 months sentence is absurd."

B added, "Does the judiciary even properly understand this issue? Sharing sexual exploitation materials involving a newborn less than a year old, yet there was no disclosure of personal information nor proper punishment. If a proper punishment cannot be imposed domestically, shouldn't extradition to the U.S. have been pursued? The court has thus sent a message that 'Korea actively protects sex offenders,'" he added.

Criticism toward the judiciary is also continuing from political circles and women's groups.

Cho Hye-min, spokesperson for the Justice Party, criticized during a briefing at the National Assembly Communication Office that afternoon, "Due to the court's lenient decision on sex crimes, the extradition to the U.S. was denied. Many citizens who saw this ruling and the passport hanging in the mourning hall are enraged."

Photo by Yonhap News

The Korean Women's Associations United also issued a statement titled "The Judiciary Has Thrown Away Its Own Trust" that day, questioning, "Does the judiciary not feel ashamed even after seeing the Digital Prison, which displays personal information of Telegram sexual exploitation perpetrators and announces, 'The server of this site is overseas, so feel free to write whatever you want'?"

They continued, "We wonder if the judiciary sincerely wrote the sentence 'Son Jung-woo must be in Korea to completely eradicate child and adolescent sexual exploitation.' Both the prosecution and the courts have actively mocked the victims," pointing out, "Citizens receive public messages that the state sends to society through rulings. So far, the state has been endlessly lenient and warm toward men who committed sex crimes and crimes against women."

They added, "Women have long abandoned the expectation that laws and systems will protect them. This distrust is entirely created by the judiciary," and strongly criticized, "The authority of the law comes from trust. The judiciary has thrown its own authority to the ground. Citizens and women will not quietly watch a judiciary that has discarded trust."

Experts pointed out that the movement toward social punishment stems from distrust in the judicial system and emphasized the need for social discussion.

Kim Yeo-jin, Director of Victim Support at the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, recently told Asia Economy in a phone interview that regarding the 'call for personal information disclosure' movement, "If there had been a belief that our judicial system could appropriately and adequately punish the perpetrators, this would not have happened."

She added, "Because our judicial system has not done so until now, the perception has shifted to 'Only by revealing who the individuals are can social punishment be possible' or 'We can identify who the perpetrators are.' We need to examine how to punish suspects going forward and how it has been handled so far," she emphasized.

Meanwhile, the court explained the reason for denying extradition to the U.S., stating, "The purpose of the extradition system is not to send criminals to places where they can be punished more severely. In this case, Korea, as a sovereign state where Son holds nationality, can exercise criminal jurisdiction proactively," and "It is desirable for Korea to exercise criminal jurisdiction over Son, considering the need to secure his custody for active use in the investigation process and the interpretation of the extradition treaty and laws."

However, the court added, "Son and his lawyer have stated that even if he receives a heavy sentence domestically, he will accept his punishment. This decision does not grant Son immunity, and he is expected to cooperate with the upcoming investigation and trial and receive just punishment."